Tea ball



1929- w.' K. MITCHELL 1,723,702

TEA BALL Filed May 31, 1928 William KM ifchell. a I

l atented Aug, 6, 1929.

I "WILLIAM K.,II'1CHELL, OF YONKEBB, NEW YORK.

TEA BALL.

Application filed Kay 31,

This invention relates to .tea balls. In using the tea balls now on the market, the hall is placed in the tea pot and when the water is poured over it, t e string with its a "tag, which is usuall colored, often falls into the water which is jectionable. Very often to prevent this, the user holds the string and sometimes becomes scalded when pouring the water over the ball. Again, in using the to ordinary tea ball, when the tea is sutliciently brewed and it is desired to keep the brew at the desired stren h, the ball must be taken out of the pot o ten resulting in the soiling of the clothing of the user and the cloth on it the table due to the therefrom. The withdrawn ball owing to its.

dripping of the liquid soggy condition and color presents an unsightly appearance and the disposition of it becomes a problem. Furthermore, in mark- 1 eting tea balls they are packed a dozen or more in a box and the strings of the ordinary tea balls, because of the disorderly manner in which it is necessary to pack them, be comes entangled causing annoyance and contusion. 7

1 am aware that various attempts have been made to overcome some of the foregoing objections such as substituting an elongated metal handle in place of the string, and securing the tag end of the string to the neck I of the bag necessitating the placing of a metal ring around said neck; but such attempts so far as applicant is aware have proved va failure. Q

A primary object 'of'm draw the tea ball up out o the latter at the object is is withdrawn from the invention is to the brew to keep brew, Another obl l j'cct strings of the balls when shipping the same- Anotherobject is to pre-i -Figure 4 is a detail view modified form of my invention;

cover 13 as is usual.

adjacent the bottom or base of the bag.

desired strength. Anotherto hide the bag from sight after it is to prevent the entangling' o..the

1928. Serial no. ear-,aea.

v Figure 3 is a side view of another form of my invention.

of a tag with the hook at the end opposite the end at which the string is secured.

. Figure 5 is a side view of the tea ball shown in Figure 1 showing the tag hooked to the bag for shipping.

igure 6 1s a side view of still another Fi ure 7 is a side View of another modified cm of my invention. 8 Referring to the various views of the drawmg 1n detail, in Figure 1 is illustrated a glass tea pot 10-having a handle 11, spout 12 and 7 While a glass pot is shown for the purpose of illustrating the invention, I contem late the use of my im proved tea ball wit tea pots made of porce lain or other suitable material.

My improved tea ball comprises a be made of fabric or other suitable'material an consisting of a body portion 1 1, a base 15 and havlng the material at its upper end gathered together to form folds 16 or a neck portion, which folds are secured together by means of a metal ring 17 formed of aluminum. Secured to this ring 17 is a string 18. The mounting of this string 18 is an im portant feature of the present invention. As

will be seen from Figures 1 and 5, the string 18 passes loosely from the rin 17. down wardly along the exterior of the bag and passes through a loop 19 formed at a point It will be understod, of course, that the string 18 maydpass into the interior of the bag at a oint a jacent the base 15 and emerge thererom again at substantiall the same point, or a strip of material forming a loop may be secured to the bag at said point through which the string may pass if desired. Also the string 18 may pass 1nto the interior of the bag at a point near the ring 17 and pass along the inside thereof and emerge therefrom at a point adjacent said base 15 and accomplish the same result.

Secured to the free end of the string 18 is a tag 20, which usually contains directions for use or advertising matter as desired, the end of the string 18 being clamped to a metal hook 21 fixed to one end of the tag.

In the form of the invention shown in Fig; ure 3, the string 18 passes loosely throng the ring 17 8416.13 fixed to a loop 22 formed 110 tion 23 has its end -fastened to another therearound as indicated point adjacent one corner of the placed in the tea string 18 hooked over the open end of the brewed. When the te at a point adjacent the base 15. It will be understood, of course, that the end of the string 18 ma be secured to the bag at'this point b stitc ing r in any other suitable or desirab e manner.

Figure 6 shows a bag formed of fabric and having a tirely clos by a row of stitching 24 around its edge. In this form of bag,

the string 18 is passed through a loop 25 formed at a body porbody or- P 26 formed at a point adjacent one of the opposite corners of said body portion.

I ith reference to Figure 7, the form of ballhere illustrated comprises a bag similar to the bag shown in Fi ures 1 and 5, but has the folds 16 of its nec portion secured together by looping the end of the strin 18 at 27 instead by tion and passing loosely over the means of a metal ring.

In using the improved tea ball, the bag Pet and the end of the spout 12. Water, as indicated at 29, is then added entirely immersing the bag, as will be seen fromFigure '1', and the bag 1's permitted toremain therein until the tea is suificiently a is sufiiciently brewed and it is desired to remove the ball from the water all that it is necessary to do is to pull on the string 18 and by reason of the peculiar mounting of said string the neck portion of the bag is drawn inwardly toward the base portion thereby forcing the bag to assume a collapsed or substantially flat position, which readily fits under the cover 13 as ap- -h pears from Figure 2, and clear of the water, and when a pot of nontransparent material, such as orcelain is used, the collapsed bag is out o sight. The bag is held in this collapsed position under the cover by reason of the weight of the cover 13 which clampingly en ges the string.

n packing the balls for shipping the hook 21 is forced into the material ofthe bag thereby eliminating any free-end which might string in the'box. While the hook 21 is iguare shaped body portion 23 en-- h the free end of the string to said ome entangled with" any other shown in Figures 1, 8, 5 and 7 as secured to the end of the tag at which the string is secured in order to permit the handling of the tag without injuring the fingers, said hook may be mounted on the opposite end of the tag as shown in Figure 4 in order to give pleasing appearance if de- The present invention contemplates,

t e tag a more sired.

'of course, the use of such a hook with the ordinary type of tea ball which has the string secured to its neck portion only.

While I have illustrated and described several embodiments of my invention, I desire it to be understood that various minor changes in the details of construction, proportions and arrangements of parts may be resorted to without departing from the s irit of the invention and sacrificing any of the advantages thereof and I desire to be limited only by the state of the priorart and the appended claims.

claim:

1, A tea ball comprising a bag for holding a quantity of tea and a string secured to one end of said bag passing loosely therealong and through the opposite end thereof. 2. A tea ball comprising a bag havin neck, body and base portions and a string liaving one end secured to said neck portion assing loosely along said body portion and t rough said base portion outwardly of said bag.

3. A tea ball com rising a'bag, a string secured to one end 0 said bag passing loosely therealong and through the op site end thereof and a tag secured to the e end of said string.

4. A tea ball comprising a bag,

aving one of its ends fixed to said bag, a tag, and a hook member mounted on said tag. one end of said hook member being secured to said tag and forming means for clam ing ta an the other end of said hook member having a pointed rounded portion for detachable engagement with said bag or a tea pot.

In testimony whereof, I hereunto aflix my a string signature.

WILLIAM K. MITCHELL] 

